Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you have had a good Valentine’s Day and that you were able to share it with your loved one. If you are single, I hope you were able to do something special for yourself this holiday.

I like all holidays and love baking, decorating for holidays, and doing fun and thoughtful things but my holiday celebrating does not usually revolve around spending large sums of money. I like to do little things that come from the heart. I do get annoyed with all the pressure to buy/spend money. I do not need diamonds, jewelry, or anything expensive to make me feel loved during Valentine’s Day or other holidays. Pull me some flowers from the yard or just spend time with me. I will be happy. : )

I did not sleep at all last night. I spent most of the night downloading/trying software and trying to find a workable solution to save and keep my important reference materials from class.

I tried many free pdf programs before settling on Cute PDF writer because of its ease of use.

Here are a few of the programs/services that I tried and my ratings of either “Way Cool” or “Not So Much”.

Google notebook – Not So Much

It messed up the formatting on the information I was trying to save.

Microsoft Office One Note – Way Cool!

Great System for organizing notes!

Google Documents – Way Cool!

Nice solution for saving documents (supports several different formats) and sharing as well as backing up your documents online.

Windows Live SkyDrive – Waaaaaaaaay Cool!

25 GB of storage space with the capability to share using the Public Folder option.

Crafting update:

The Granny Square blanket:

I have three colors on the granny square afghan so far. The center square is red, then orange and yellow around that. I changed my plan and have now decided to use many different colors on this afghan instead of just going with red, yellow and orange. I will try and get some pictures later of my progress to show you.

Project 2: Amigurumi "Cookie" Creation

This is going to sound funny but anyhow...

I am using features from two different amigurumi patterns and taking different things from each. The patterns are from the book called "Tiny Yarn Animals - Amigurumi Friends to Make and Enjoy by Tamie Snow". I am trying to make a cat Amigurumi stuffed animal that looks like our cat Cookie. (or at least I hope it resembles her in some tiny way when I am finished. Time will tell LOL) So far I have half of the head made.

That is all I can think of to say right now so I will be back later. ;)

Lada dada dee - Lada dada day

Miss Domino's x-ray

Our cat Miss Domino is our oldest cat. We named her that because she is black and white. She came to our house one day many years ago and adopted us as her family. We asked around but nobody seems to know who she belonged to. Miss. Domino is at the veterinarian. We did not know that in her life (before coming to us) she had a broken leg and an operation with two metal pins put in her leg. She got a sore and it was not healing so Armando took her to get checked. The x-rays quickly revealed what the problem was. One of her pins had dislodged itself and was protruding outward. It was bothering her and that is what caused the sore. Tomorrow she will have surgery for removal of the one pin.


Yesterday I went to breathe some fresh air. To say it was glorious would be an understatement. The skies were a beautiful blue with the clouds made of cotton, or so it appeared to my eyes. The past few days have brought spring-like weather, a nice reprieve from the winter coolness. To think that I have permission to sit up a little at this time is a gift to boost my spirits unlike any other!

My incision seems to be holding together pretty well. The last appointment the doctor said he would leave the stitches in two more weeks. I have had some superficial separations but I think it will all heal with time. I just need to take it slow which is hard for me to do sometimes. I like to go full-force.

Yesterday I made Armando French toast. I miss cooking for us a lot.

As far as studies go, I have made my way to Focus on Medical Specialties. I have completed the Cardiology, Gastroenterology and Neurology sections. Now I am studying OB-GYN Obstetrics and Gynecology. Next will be the Mid-term test.

I hope you have a good week!

Cookie

Cookie, originally uploaded by alabamagal.

test #2

Paper Flowers

Flowers
Originally uploaded by alabamagal

Testing

Hi

My blog seems to be a blend of my life, cats and crafts. I like sharing crafts and looking at other people's crafts online. Sometimes I just need a place to release and talk about things that are on my mind. They can be a mixture of feelings depending on what is going on in my life so just hang in there with me. If I seem negative at times it is just me trying to cope with something and releasing it so I can move on. I try to share all sides of myself but sometimes I am not the best at writing it down! 

Another subject that I have been trying to be more open about is paralysis and health. Two friends of mine had mentioned before to me that they wished I would speak more about that so I have been. Life is made up of ups and downs and yes, sometimes being in a wheelchair or the complications that go along with it can be challenging. I find that most of the time I am just fine and just go about trying to live my life like everybody else.  I do not really focus on the wheelchair except when I need to.  Like when I cannot fit it somewhere etc. I am not the typical person in the wheelchair because I have had other health problems since I was thirteen years old and did not become paralyzed until I was fifteen years old. Those other issues mostly involve my back and create more challenges but little by little I find ways to move past them. Necessity is the Mother of invention!

Ok, now onto my recent crafting project. :)

I have been working on a granny square blanket since I had surgery. I am doing it in bright colors, red, orange and yellow. It is easy to do in bed since I am doing it as one big granny square and in rounds versus doing a lot of little granny squares and then joining them. 

If you look back over my past blog entries you will see that I lost pictures with my entries. I lost them because I cancelled my hosting service and beforehand  I did not think of them being casualties. Now you can only reach this blog by alabamagal.blogspot.com

Alabamagal.com is no longer a valid address for me. Sorry about all that.

I have been watching tv & movies, reading, sleeping , studying and crocheting a lot since the 19th. I am so ready to heal and get back to my normal routine. I have forgotten how to be a good patient! I am trying though. ;)

I may have gained some pounds after all this with inactivity, bedrest, and frequent bowls of chocolate icecream. :P